I am SO proud of myself. This was hands-down the hardest race I have ever done. I almost quit a few times, but I stuck it out.

Our morning started early: 4:15 am. We were out the door before 5 for the hour drive to Blacksburg, SC.

When we left, it was raining. I started freaking a bit since I’ve never biked on wet roads. But it was only 70 degrees with tolerable humidity and a breeze.

By the time we arrived at Kings Mountain National Park, the rain stopped. And the temperatures stayed steady throughout the race. We were incredibly lucky. This is the coolest weekend in Charlotte in more than 3 months. We seriously couldn’t have asked for better weather. Score.

We picked up our timing chips, got marked with our numbers and age and set up our transition areas.

This is when I learned my Garmin was on “low battery”. #Fail. I’d have to bike and run without knowing my speed or distance. Huge obstacle since there weren’t mile markers on the course.

Before we knew it, it was time to head down to the lake for the start.

Originally my hubby and I were told we were in the same wave. But this morning they divided us into 4 waves: Open men (hubby!), Master’s men, Open women (me!) and Master’s women. Each wave started 4 minutes after the previous.

After hubby went off, I chatted with a few of the women in my wave. This was a small race- only around 100 triathlon participants total (there was also a duathlon and a relay). There were only about 10 women in my wave. All of these girls were experienced triathletes. When I told one it was my first Olympic tri, she asked “WHY did you pick this race?” And then she asked what my favorite event was and I told her I was a runner. Then she said “well good luck on the bike…” Panic.

*The results for the race aren’t posted yet so I won’t have times to share. I’ll update this post when they’re up.

I was incredibly nervous, but my goal was just to finish.

Swim

As soon as we started, I was way behind the other girls. Instead of getting discouraged, I reminded myself this was a good thing because I wouldn’t have to worry about getting kicked in the face.

Then after a few minutes, I felt this disgusting stuff on me. And it kept getting worse and thicker. I was completely covered in seaweed. This made me nervous and I accidentally inhaled a huge gulp of water. Complete panic ensued. I’m a huge germaphobe (I used to work in infectious disease prevention) and this lake was dirty. I kept thinking I was going to get some type of recreational water illness from this stupid swim so I wanted to stop. I was barely swimming as it was with the seaweed engulfing me, so why go on?

I really thought about heading over to a canoe and dropping out. But I kept swimming. And soon the seaweed diminished. I was so thankful. And eventually I calmed down and settled into a rhythm. Almost all of the Master’s women passed me, but I was fine with that. This race was against me only.

Transition 1

When the swim was over, I was thrilled. Just so happy to be done. 1400 m was likely the furthest I’ve ever swam in open water, and I did it!

But to get to transition 1, we had a half mile run up a hill. I ran in my flip-flops which was a but tricky when you’re wet.

When I actually got to the transition area, I felt like crap. Almost all of the bikes were gone which meant I was very close to last.

I sucked it up. This race was about me, not other people. I’d have a PR no matter what. All I had to do was finish.

I gobbled some Sharkies, put on my bike shoes, and grabbed my bike, helmet and sunglasses.

Bike

I’ve only biked more than 28 miles one time, and that was back in May. I expected this hilly ride to be incredibly trying, but nothing could have prepared me for what was about to happen.

Within the first couple of miles, the few women who were behind me passed me. I was pretty sure I was dead last.

The course was worse than what I expected. It was on roads without a shoulder in the middle of no where SC, where the speed limit was 55, and cars and trucks blew by me. I’ve never ridden alone on roads like this. And that’s what I was: completely alone. I saw no one ahead of me, had no idea what my speed was, what the distance I covered was and felt completely lost. If I crashed, had trouble with my bike or just gave up, no one would know where I was. And the hills OMG! I thought I was used to hills, but these suckers were steep and long.

I was in a bad place. I’m embarrassed to admit this, but I cried a lot on the bike ride. I kept hoping that my husband would turn around and come help me, but I knew he was trying to win his age group. I really wanted to give up, but where would I go? The almost 2 hours I spent on the bike were hands down the most physically challenging thing I’ve ever done.

Oddly enough, I also went through periods of feeling really calm and free. It felt kind of good to go fast on my bike and know that it was just me and the road out there. If I got through this, no one else could take credit. This was all me.

And then I’d get back to the bottom of a big hill and start crying again. There were a few times when I was going to get off my bike and walk up the hill, but then I feared I’d never get back on.

After what felt like eternity, I arrived back into Kings Mountain State Park. Where I saw all of the other competitors running. Including my husband. Cue insane jealousy.

And then it was time to dismount from the bike. I was elated! All I had to do now was run a 10k. Piece of cake!

Transition 2

After I got off my bike, I realized I hadn’t eaten anything and barely drank any Gatorade. I inhaled some more Sharkies and grabbed my Gatorade bottle to run with.

Run

As soon as I tore out of transition, I passed my husband approaching the finish line. He yelled out encouraging words like “Go Jen! It’s easy now, finish strong blah blah blah”. I yelled out nice words like “Not fair, I hate you, etc”.

And the run really was cake. The course was hilly, but as soon as I was pounding the pavement, I felt like me. I had my sea legs back and for the first time all race, I knew I’d finish. It also felt great to run in cooler temps.

I started passing people in front of me for the first time all day. During triathlons, your age is written on your calf so others can see if you’re in their age group. The only people I passed were people in their 40’s and 50’s. You’d think this would make me feel like poo, but I was running Jen (i.e., happy Jen) so I felt so proud for these older participants and hoped I’d be in their shoes in a couple of decades.

One guy saw me pass him and goes “aww, did you have mechanical problems on the bike?” I was like “what?” He said something like “well you’re running so fast, you’re obviously not meant to be back here.” Ha, I kindly explained that I was an experienced runner, but a novice swimmer and cyclist.

The 6.2 miles flew by. According to the results I glanced at after the race, I kept about an 8:00 min/ mi pace the whole time. Walk breaks included.

I can’t explain how happy I was when I approached the finish line. I sprinted in with a smile on my face 🙂

After 3:30:50 I was an Olympic triathlete!

We later found out I came in 3rd in my age group and got a $10 gift card to a local running store 🙂 Sweet! I think there were only 3 people in my age group, but I’ll wait for official results.

And my hubby got second in his age group. So proud of him! He beat me by about 40 minutes, but guess who’s run was about a minute faster? Oh yeah.

I don’t think I’ve ever been so proud of myself. I can’t believe I did it. I also don’t think my quads have ever hurt so much 😉

Wow! What a great run! You’ll get the biking down in no time at all if you train on some hills and then you’ll be unstoppable!
Funnily, your post made me really nostalgic for this one super hard Olympic tri we do every year!

woo hoo!!! way to go! I knew you could do it! Although, it does sound pretty miserable and you have confirmed the fact that i wll never do this. I. hate. seaweed. and lakes. eeewww. I dont know how you did it!!!

What a great recap — I love that you’re willing to share all of your feelings, since I’m sure so many other participants had similar ones. Congratulations! I’m super impressed particularly because I’m sure I couldn’t do any ONE of these three things! 😉

Awesome job!! Great recap… I felt like I was there with you! I’ve only done 1 tri and it was such hell I don’t I’ll do another. Dont we torture ourselves enough with marathons? haha. Do you have more tris left this season? CONGRATS!

Way to go Jen! I can’t imagine ever doing an Oly Tri, let alone finishing it with a SMILE on my face!
This was a great recap – I was getting antsy just thinking about all that seaweed!! You look so STRONG in those pictures of your run leg!
Great job – and even if there were only 3 people in your age group, you still did it!

Hey! i was there too, #13 wearing a white/red cycling jersey, my girlfriend was #6. It was my girlfriends first Tri even too and we picked a helluva race to break into for her but she ‘beasted’ through it and finished. Yeah that swim was something else eh? seaweed was a nuisance, the bike course was tougher than anything i’ve trained on but still manageable! I was distraught by the run though! Wow too many hills for this guy.. I waited in transition for my GF to get done with the bike so we could finish the run together, grats on your placing and hope your hubby attained his goal too. I’ll be ready to suffer a bit more next year! GL

Congratulations!!!! This sounds incredibly tough. I would have cried too, I’m sure. It’s easy enough to be emotional when you’re working really hard, and then to feel frustrated that things aren’t going the way you’d hoped just makes it so much worse. But I’m so impressed!! You powered through and it sounds like you had an amazing finish after your hard work. This post is seriously so inspirational for me. I need to start training for a triathlon!!

I was out there to at the race. Actually, I am standing next to you at the swim start (red top, yellow swim cap)… Can I put that picture on my blog?? Please??

Great job on your first international distance! It was my first international too! When I told people that AOC is going to be my first international, they told me that I can do any international after that one! 😉

I am a swimmer and cyclist and struggle most on the run. The swim was decent (expect that nasty seaweed – yuck!), but I had to fight on the bike as well. Don’t feel bad about it, it’s a rough course!

So cool you did it too! And you were another newbie! I wish I talked to you before the race 🙂 Congrats! And yes, please take the picture. I just looked through my others and couldn’t find any more of you.

Wow Jen! That’s a really touching story. Thanks for sharing your heart and your struggles, I’m sure that alone was pretty tough. That tri sounds killer and you should be so proud of yourself for doing so well, as well as not giving up when you really really wanted to. I loved reading this tri recap. 🙂

[…] But you’re more mature than me, body. Instead of hating me back, you made me strong. You let me run faster than I ever thought possible, granted me PRs and let me survive the hardest race of my life. […]